"Gabimaru... when you use your sorcery, how do you perceive it?" Yorimitsu asked as they made their way toward the town.
The surrounding landscape was shifting continuously around them. The vast crop fields gave way to a grove of exotic, strange trees blooming in the distance. Their bark was a deep chocolate brown, fractured by thin, chalk-white cracks, while the blossoms hanging from the branches resembled pale red fruits that spiralled outward like the open, gape-mouthed agape of a koi fish.
"Mmm...? What do you mean?" Gabimaru replied, his focus elsewhere as he tracked their heading.
"I mean... when you perform your techniques, how much thought do you actually put into the process? How much of it is deliberate calculation?"
"Mmm. I'd say it feels entirely natural," Gabimaru answered with an indifferent shrug. "Much like breathing. You don't consciously think when you take a breath, do you?"
"Well, that would be true, till the very air you are trying to breathe is limited, then you think about how much you should u—"
"Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?" Gabimaru shot back, his tone instantly sharpening.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure why..." Yorimitsu said softly, his voice carrying over the rushing wind. "Call it an intuition, but I have a strong feeling that whatever we are about to face... we won't be able to exorcise it without you."
Gabimaru froze for a fraction of a second, his knuckles whitening as his fists clenched tightly at his sides. His glare locked directly onto the centre of Yorimitsu's back.
'What the hell is he saying right now...?' Gabimaru thought, the sinister mark on his back throbbing in rhythm with his pulse. 'Is he implying that whatever is down there is stronger than he is? Is he admitting... that I am stronger than him, or is he mocking me? When we fought against that monster last time without him, we would have died.' Gabimaru felt a hot rage wash over him, then the voices returned once more.
'He is cruel, he is mocking you… teach him... show him.'
"Stop.. Stop it… Stop!" Gabimaru whispered.
"Hmmmm..." Yorimitsu glanced back over his shoulder. The sudden eye contact startled Gabimaru, who looked away for a brief, tense moment.
"To be precise... I'm referring to your Onmyōdō," Yorimitsu continued smoothly. "Your technique utilises blood manipulation, correct?"
"Yes..."
"And if I recall correctly, in order to avoid dying from severe blood loss, you absorb the blood of whatever prey you slay into a pocket reservoir within yourself. From there, you can curse or refine it as you wish."
'Hmph... how the hell does he know so much about my technique?' Gabimaru thought, his jaw tightening.
"How did yo—"
"Well, from what my scout has gathered, the creature we are hunting has absorbed a significant number of villagers into its own flesh," Yorimitsu cut him off before he could finish the question. "If my assessment is correct, simply slaying its main body will not be enough to eradicate it completely."
Yorimitsu leapt over a fallen log, his eyes tracking the path ahead. "Since the townspeople have been offering prayers to it, the entity has likely established several spiritual conduits scattered throughout the district. If we had more time, I could trace and sever those conduits myself. However, the creature is evolving at an unnaturally rapid pace. By the time I locate every last node, it may have already relocated its anchors."
"Tch..." Gabimaru clicked his tongue, his mind racing.
Beside them, Watanabe's pace slowed slightly, his brow furrowed in anger. "Wait... Captain, you said the townspeople were praying to that monster? What do you mean by that? Why on earth would they ever—"
"Salvation..." Gabimaru chimed in, his voice cold and flat.
"Huh?!" Watanabe snapped his head toward him.
"I wouldn't have believed it myself if you asked me a few months ago," Gabimaru said, his eyes staring blankly into the gloom as they ran. "But since I started going out on these missions... I've finally begun to understand how pathetic this world really is."
Watanabe turned his head mid-stride, raising a brow slightly as he stared at Gabimaru. Beside them, Shion caught up with the group, her lips curling into a faint smile beneath her dark cloth mask.
'I wish I could join in and talk with them too... but I still can't,' Shion thought to herself, her fingers tracing the edge of the wrappings around her throat. 'It's so frustrating being useless without a mouth... But last time... when my body transformed during battle... it felt as if I briefly regained my tongue.'
She cast a quiet, meaningful glance toward Gabimaru before focusing back on the path ahead.
"Think about it," Gabimaru continued, his eyes fixed on the bizarre flora lining the trail. "Every place we've travelled to so far has been ruined, either crippled by severe drought or poisoned by some curse that forbids crops from growing. But look around you. Even though the Reiryoku in this air flows strangely, the people here can actually farm. I'm willing to bet those strange trees have everything to do with it... Those blossoms are the embodiment of everyone's wishes and hopes in this district."
The moment those heavy words left Gabimaru's lips, Watanabe's pace slowed slightly. His eyes drifted downward toward the rain-slicked earth, silent as the truth sank in.
'Mmm... he really has grown in his own way, hasn't he?' Yorimitsu mused internally, observing Gabimaru's sharp observation. 'It almost makes me feel a touch guilty... They carry such genuine, earnest intentions, yet the only reason I gather them under my command is for my own selfish ambitions.'
Yorimitsu turned his gaze forward as the heavy downpour finally engulfed them, cold rain rapidly drenching their armour and clothes.
"Look at those clouds..." Watanabe called out, squinting through the torrential sheets of water.
"We've finally made it," Yorimitsu announced, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his blade. "Just a few more paces, and we will cross into the village."